The animals were given a test run around a quarter-mile track lined with barricades that they'll be sharing with about 3,000 humans in several heats.

The humans will pay $75 each to take part in what organizers admit is a dangerous sport.

"There is a risk of very serious injury, but it's no different than sky diving or race car driving or any other extreme sport that involves serious risk or injury," organizer Rob Dickens told 11 Alive.

Two of the 4,000 people who ran in the first Great Bull Run in Virginia last August were hospitalized.

But Dickens said the bulls that chased them are not nearly as dangerous as the ones used in Spain's famous Pamplona run.

"Rodeo bulls are bigger, but they're not nearly as insanely aggressive as a Spanish fighting bill would be," Dickens said.

"Their horns are about as dull as your fist, so it makes it pretty difficult to gore someone," he added.

Despite protests from several animal rights groups, the Great Bull Run adds that while Spain's bulls end up fighting to the death in a ring after their run, the American rodeo bulls will be safer than the humans they'll be chasing.

"Humans can use animals as long as they're not being abused and we're certainly not abusing our bulls," Dickens insisted.